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Icon for linux application

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  • jsulmJ jsulm

    @atom_352 Did you try QMainWindow::setWindowIcon(), I think this is what you need and you can use an icon embedded in a rosource file.

    atom_352A Offline
    atom_352A Offline
    atom_352
    wrote on last edited by
    #5

    @jsulm , Yes, I tried to use exactly this, but where can I write this, and is it necessary to use the qicon class?

    Pl45m4P 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • atom_352A atom_352

      @jsulm , Yes, I tried to use exactly this, but where can I write this, and is it necessary to use the qicon class?

      Pl45m4P Offline
      Pl45m4P Offline
      Pl45m4
      wrote on last edited by
      #6

      @atom_352 said in Icon for linux application:

      but where can I write this

      Anywhere ;-)
      But I don't think your neighbors will like you if you paint that on their door.

      However, to set your MainWindow icon you need to write it in a function that is called when creating your QMainWindow :)

      is it necessary to use the qicon class

      You can construct a QIcon from file, either QRC or directly from file string.


      If debugging is the process of removing software bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in.

      ~E. W. Dijkstra

      atom_352A 1 Reply Last reply
      1
      • Pl45m4P Pl45m4

        @atom_352 said in Icon for linux application:

        but where can I write this

        Anywhere ;-)
        But I don't think your neighbors will like you if you paint that on their door.

        However, to set your MainWindow icon you need to write it in a function that is called when creating your QMainWindow :)

        is it necessary to use the qicon class

        You can construct a QIcon from file, either QRC or directly from file string.

        atom_352A Offline
        atom_352A Offline
        atom_352
        wrote on last edited by atom_352
        #7

        @Pl45m4 Thanks!! But should it look like this?

        mainwindow.cpp

        MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent)
            : QMainWindow(parent)
            , ui(new Ui::MainWindow)
        {
            ui->setupUi(this);
            icon();
        }
        
        void MainWindow::icon()
        {
             QMainWindow::setWindowIcon(QIcon("qrc:/new/icons/img/information.png"));
        }
        

        Because at startup the taskbar still displays the standard icon

        Pl45m4P 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • atom_352A atom_352

          @Pl45m4 Thanks!! But should it look like this?

          mainwindow.cpp

          MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent)
              : QMainWindow(parent)
              , ui(new Ui::MainWindow)
          {
              ui->setupUi(this);
              icon();
          }
          
          void MainWindow::icon()
          {
               QMainWindow::setWindowIcon(QIcon("qrc:/new/icons/img/information.png"));
          }
          

          Because at startup the taskbar still displays the standard icon

          Pl45m4P Offline
          Pl45m4P Offline
          Pl45m4
          wrote on last edited by
          #8

          @atom_352

          This also works

          {
              ui->setupUi(this);
              QMainWindow::setWindowIcon(QIcon("qrc:/new/icons/img/information.png"));
          }
          

          Because at startup the taskbar still displays the standard icon

          If you want to have your icon as "shortcut" / desktop icon on Linux you need to follow @JonB 's solution in the topic linked by @jsulm above.


          If debugging is the process of removing software bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in.

          ~E. W. Dijkstra

          atom_352A Joe von HabsburgJ 2 Replies Last reply
          1
          • Pl45m4P Pl45m4

            @atom_352

            This also works

            {
                ui->setupUi(this);
                QMainWindow::setWindowIcon(QIcon("qrc:/new/icons/img/information.png"));
            }
            

            Because at startup the taskbar still displays the standard icon

            If you want to have your icon as "shortcut" / desktop icon on Linux you need to follow @JonB 's solution in the topic linked by @jsulm above.

            atom_352A Offline
            atom_352A Offline
            atom_352
            wrote on last edited by
            #9

            @Pl45m4 Ok! Finally, i understand, thank you so much

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • atom_352A atom_352 has marked this topic as solved on
            • S Offline
              S Offline
              SimonSchroeder
              wrote on last edited by
              #10

              I am using AppImages (created with linuxdeploy and linuxdeployqt) to have portable applications. These rely on a .desktop file which is supposed to be portable between KDE and Gnome (and hopefully other desktop environments). The .desktop file plays together with the xdg-utils. You can install these with xdg-desktop-menu or xdg-desktop-icon. I'd expect that through this they would also immediately show the icon in the taskbar when launched this way. (You can even register file extensions with xdg-mime and than open file with the associated program with xdg-open–much like macOS's open command.)

              If I am not mistaken, this is the official link for .desktop files: https://specifications.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/index.html

              1 Reply Last reply
              1
              • E Offline
                E Offline
                eman086
                wrote on last edited by
                #11

                To add a system tray icon in a C++ app on Ubuntu/Linux using CMake, you can use libappindicator or Qt (if using Qt framework). Here's a short summary:

                Use libappindicator for GTK-based apps:

                Install: sudo apt install libappindicator3-dev

                Link in CMake: target_link_libraries(your_app appindicator3-0.1)

                Set icon: app_indicator_set_icon_full(indicator, "icon-name", "description");

                Or use Qt:

                Use QSystemTrayIcon and set icon with setIcon(QIcon(":/icon.png"));

                Make sure the icon file is included in your build and accessible at runtime.

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • Pl45m4P Pl45m4

                  @atom_352

                  This also works

                  {
                      ui->setupUi(this);
                      QMainWindow::setWindowIcon(QIcon("qrc:/new/icons/img/information.png"));
                  }
                  

                  Because at startup the taskbar still displays the standard icon

                  If you want to have your icon as "shortcut" / desktop icon on Linux you need to follow @JonB 's solution in the topic linked by @jsulm above.

                  Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                  Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                  Joe von Habsburg
                  wrote on last edited by Joe von Habsburg
                  #12

                  @Pl45m4 said in Icon for linux application:

                  QMainWindow::setWindowIcon(QIcon("qrc:/new/icons/img/information.png"));

                  Hello I have same issue.

                  When I in windows, I use like that

                  //Cmake
                  
                  set(APP_ICON_RESOURCE_WINDOWS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/icon.rc")
                  
                  qt_add_executable(MyApp
                      MANUAL_FINALIZATION
                      ${PROJECT_SOURCES}
                      ${APP_ICON_RESOURCE_WINDOWS}
                  )
                  
                  //Icon.rc
                  IDI_ICON1               ICON    "Resources/icon/icon.ico"
                  

                  But I can see only that :
                  5d16d8a8-5629-4b08-b8c3-a3a4d09960c2-image.png

                  I added also on ui,
                  bc1e26b7-c76d-48b7-b900-2440dcd8b322-image.png

                  and extra add with code

                  QMainWindow::setWindowIcon(QIcon("qrc:/new/icons/img/information.png"));
                  

                  Any opinion or advice ?

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • Christian EhrlicherC Offline
                    Christian EhrlicherC Offline
                    Christian Ehrlicher
                    Lifetime Qt Champion
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #13

                    This should work the way you did it. Do you see that rc.exe is executed during compilation? It should create a .res file which then gets linked into the resulting executable

                    Qt Online Installer direct download: https://download.qt.io/official_releases/online_installers/
                    Visit the Qt Academy at https://academy.qt.io/catalog

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                    0
                    • Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                      Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                      Joe von Habsburg
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #14

                      @Christian-Ehrlicher said in Icon for linux application:

                      This should work the way you did it.

                      I did something wrong probably.

                      @Christian-Ehrlicher said in Icon for linux application:

                      Do you see that rc.exe is executed during compilation?

                      I see only that icon : image.png

                      I didn't quite understand what you meant. Are you referring to my application as rx.exe? If so, and by compilation you mean build and run, I don't see it.

                      @Christian-Ehrlicher said in Icon for linux application:

                      It should create a .res file which then gets linked into the resulting executable

                      When I look in the build folder, I don't see any files with a .res extension. Do I need to build it differently?

                      Christian EhrlicherC 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • Joe von HabsburgJ Joe von Habsburg

                        @Christian-Ehrlicher said in Icon for linux application:

                        This should work the way you did it.

                        I did something wrong probably.

                        @Christian-Ehrlicher said in Icon for linux application:

                        Do you see that rc.exe is executed during compilation?

                        I see only that icon : image.png

                        I didn't quite understand what you meant. Are you referring to my application as rx.exe? If so, and by compilation you mean build and run, I don't see it.

                        @Christian-Ehrlicher said in Icon for linux application:

                        It should create a .res file which then gets linked into the resulting executable

                        When I look in the build folder, I don't see any files with a .res extension. Do I need to build it differently?

                        Christian EhrlicherC Offline
                        Christian EhrlicherC Offline
                        Christian Ehrlicher
                        Lifetime Qt Champion
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #15

                        @Joe-von-Habsburg said in Icon for linux application:

                        I didn't quite understand what you meant

                        When you compile the application in QtCreator you see what/how the compiler is invoked. There you see a lot of output and one of them should be the invocation of rc.exe. You need to clean the build dir before or at least modify the rc file so it gets recompiled.

                        Qt Online Installer direct download: https://download.qt.io/official_releases/online_installers/
                        Visit the Qt Academy at https://academy.qt.io/catalog

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                        0
                        • Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                          Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                          Joe von Habsburg
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #16

                          I looked at the "Compile Output" window and, it is finished succesfully. I could not see about icon or rc.exe.

                          [15/15 10.2/sec] Linking CXX executable MyApp
                          16:28:18: The command "/home/x/Qt/Tools/CMake/bin/cmake --build /home/x/Desktop/MyApp/build --target all" finished successfully.
                          

                          I want to ask again, is rc.exe my app or different thing ? If different thing how can I add to my app, and why should I add ?
                          I clear cmake configuration, I run cmake, I clean and rebuild. Still icon does not exist.

                          I've worked this hard on Qt in Ubuntu before. I apologize if I did anything wrong.

                          Christian EhrlicherC 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • Joe von HabsburgJ Joe von Habsburg

                            I looked at the "Compile Output" window and, it is finished succesfully. I could not see about icon or rc.exe.

                            [15/15 10.2/sec] Linking CXX executable MyApp
                            16:28:18: The command "/home/x/Qt/Tools/CMake/bin/cmake --build /home/x/Desktop/MyApp/build --target all" finished successfully.
                            

                            I want to ask again, is rc.exe my app or different thing ? If different thing how can I add to my app, and why should I add ?
                            I clear cmake configuration, I run cmake, I clean and rebuild. Still icon does not exist.

                            I've worked this hard on Qt in Ubuntu before. I apologize if I did anything wrong.

                            Christian EhrlicherC Offline
                            Christian EhrlicherC Offline
                            Christian Ehrlicher
                            Lifetime Qt Champion
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #17

                            @Joe-von-Habsburg said in Icon for linux application:

                            I've worked this hard on Qt in Ubuntu before

                            You're aware that the rc application icon is for windows??? Please read the full thread.

                            Qt Online Installer direct download: https://download.qt.io/official_releases/online_installers/
                            Visit the Qt Academy at https://academy.qt.io/catalog

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                            0
                            • Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                              Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                              Joe von Habsburg
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #18

                              Ok, I am sorry, I read : https://forum.qt.io/topic/102167/how-to-add-qt-application-icon-in-ubuntu
                              I need both of them also, .destop file and QMainWindow::setWindowIcon().

                              I create icon.destop file and add resouces.qrc and add also to build folder.
                              My file :

                              [Desktop Entry]
                              Version=1.0
                              Type=Application
                              Name=MyApp
                              Icon=Resources/icon/icon.png
                              Exec=MyApp
                              Comment=MyApp Application
                              Categories=Application
                              Terminal=false
                              

                              I could not see any thing.
                              And QMainWindow::setWindowIcon(). not work.
                              a6acd848-c7f7-4f4b-a406-417ba4fe9b6a-image.png

                              I checked, is icon null, it is return false. icon is not null.

                              MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent)
                                  : QMainWindow(parent)
                                  , ui(new Ui::MainWindow)
                              {
                                  ui->setupUi(this);
                                  QIcon ic(":/Resources/icon/icon.png");
                                  qDebug() << "ic.isNull" << ic.isNull(); // return false
                                  QMainWindow::setWindowIcon(QIcon(":/Resources/icon/icon.png"));
                              }
                              

                              Did I create .destop file correct location ?

                              JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • Joe von HabsburgJ Joe von Habsburg

                                Ok, I am sorry, I read : https://forum.qt.io/topic/102167/how-to-add-qt-application-icon-in-ubuntu
                                I need both of them also, .destop file and QMainWindow::setWindowIcon().

                                I create icon.destop file and add resouces.qrc and add also to build folder.
                                My file :

                                [Desktop Entry]
                                Version=1.0
                                Type=Application
                                Name=MyApp
                                Icon=Resources/icon/icon.png
                                Exec=MyApp
                                Comment=MyApp Application
                                Categories=Application
                                Terminal=false
                                

                                I could not see any thing.
                                And QMainWindow::setWindowIcon(). not work.
                                a6acd848-c7f7-4f4b-a406-417ba4fe9b6a-image.png

                                I checked, is icon null, it is return false. icon is not null.

                                MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent)
                                    : QMainWindow(parent)
                                    , ui(new Ui::MainWindow)
                                {
                                    ui->setupUi(this);
                                    QIcon ic(":/Resources/icon/icon.png");
                                    qDebug() << "ic.isNull" << ic.isNull(); // return false
                                    QMainWindow::setWindowIcon(QIcon(":/Resources/icon/icon.png"));
                                }
                                

                                Did I create .destop file correct location ?

                                JonBJ Offline
                                JonBJ Offline
                                JonB
                                wrote on last edited by JonB
                                #19

                                @Joe-von-Habsburg said in Icon for linux application:

                                Icon=Resources/icon/icon.png

                                QIcon ic(":/Resources/icon/icon.png");

                                The first looks in the filing system for Resources/icon/icon.png, which doesn't exist. I do not think you can tell desktop to use a resource in a Qt executable, or I don't know how if you can (unless :/Resources/icon/icon.png works which I doubt). For the desktop shortcut I imagine you have to extract or copy the png file so you can point to that.

                                Joe von HabsburgJ 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • JonBJ JonB

                                  @Joe-von-Habsburg said in Icon for linux application:

                                  Icon=Resources/icon/icon.png

                                  QIcon ic(":/Resources/icon/icon.png");

                                  The first looks in the filing system for Resources/icon/icon.png, which doesn't exist. I do not think you can tell desktop to use a resource in a Qt executable, or I don't know how if you can (unless :/Resources/icon/icon.png works which I doubt). For the desktop shortcut I imagine you have to extract or copy the png file so you can point to that.

                                  Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                                  Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                                  Joe von Habsburg
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #20

                                  @JonB said in Icon for linux application:

                                  Icon=Resources/icon/icon.png

                                  thay are in same directory.

                                  • icon.destop

                                  • Resources/

                                  I added on project location and build location. So it exists.

                                  @JonB said in Icon for linux application:

                                  I do not think you can tell desktop to use a resource in a Qt executable,

                                  I know what you mean. You think I'm using a file in resources.qrc, but I copied Resources/icon/icon.png to the build folder myself. So I know you can't use it from the .qrc file, it's inside the icon.desktop file.

                                  @JonB said in Icon for linux application:

                                  QIcon ic(":/Resources/icon/icon.png");

                                  That was for mainwindow icon. I tested for access to icon.png file or it is null, app can access to file because it returns as false for ask is it null.

                                  JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • Joe von HabsburgJ Joe von Habsburg

                                    @JonB said in Icon for linux application:

                                    Icon=Resources/icon/icon.png

                                    thay are in same directory.

                                    • icon.destop

                                    • Resources/

                                    I added on project location and build location. So it exists.

                                    @JonB said in Icon for linux application:

                                    I do not think you can tell desktop to use a resource in a Qt executable,

                                    I know what you mean. You think I'm using a file in resources.qrc, but I copied Resources/icon/icon.png to the build folder myself. So I know you can't use it from the .qrc file, it's inside the icon.desktop file.

                                    @JonB said in Icon for linux application:

                                    QIcon ic(":/Resources/icon/icon.png");

                                    That was for mainwindow icon. I tested for access to icon.png file or it is null, app can access to file because it returns as false for ask is it null.

                                    JonBJ Offline
                                    JonBJ Offline
                                    JonB
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #21

                                    @Joe-von-Habsburg
                                    I do not understand your English or what you are saying.

                                    .qrc is not relevant, it is only used at compilation time. Ubuntu/desktop will not look for Icon=Resources/icon/icon.png as an embedded resource within your executable, nor if you specify it as any Icon=:/... like you can inside Qt code.

                                    Let's say your home directory is /home/joe. Copy icon.png to that directory, so /home/joe/icon.png. Specify Icon=/home/joe/icon.png in .desktop file. Try that. If that does not work then perhaps you have something wrong in your .desktop file.

                                    Joe von HabsburgJ 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • JonBJ JonB

                                      @Joe-von-Habsburg
                                      I do not understand your English or what you are saying.

                                      .qrc is not relevant, it is only used at compilation time. Ubuntu/desktop will not look for Icon=Resources/icon/icon.png as an embedded resource within your executable, nor if you specify it as any Icon=:/... like you can inside Qt code.

                                      Let's say your home directory is /home/joe. Copy icon.png to that directory, so /home/joe/icon.png. Specify Icon=/home/joe/icon.png in .desktop file. Try that. If that does not work then perhaps you have something wrong in your .desktop file.

                                      Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                                      Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                                      Joe von Habsburg
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #22

                                      @JonB said in Icon for linux application:

                                      I do not understand your English or what you are saying.

                                      Sorry for that.

                                      @JonB said in Icon for linux application:

                                      Let's say your home directory is /home/joe. Copy icon.png to that directory, so /home/joe/icon.png. Specify Icon=/home/joe/icon.png in .desktop file. Try that. If that does not work then perhaps you have something wrong in your .desktop file.

                                      I said that. I copied the image same directory(build) with .desktop file.

                                      000c42ac-595e-4949-a3cd-65b5019af013-image.png

                                      JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • Joe von HabsburgJ Joe von Habsburg

                                        @JonB said in Icon for linux application:

                                        I do not understand your English or what you are saying.

                                        Sorry for that.

                                        @JonB said in Icon for linux application:

                                        Let's say your home directory is /home/joe. Copy icon.png to that directory, so /home/joe/icon.png. Specify Icon=/home/joe/icon.png in .desktop file. Try that. If that does not work then perhaps you have something wrong in your .desktop file.

                                        I said that. I copied the image same directory(build) with .desktop file.

                                        000c42ac-595e-4949-a3cd-65b5019af013-image.png

                                        JonBJ Offline
                                        JonBJ Offline
                                        JonB
                                        wrote on last edited by JonB
                                        #23

                                        @Joe-von-Habsburg said in Icon for linux application:

                                        I said that. I copied the image same directory(build) with .desktop file.

                                        It's quite simple. I suggested you:

                                        1. Copy icon.png to /home/joe/icon.png (whatever your home directory is).
                                        2. Put Icon=/home/joe/icon.png (that's whatever full path) in .desktop file.

                                        I don't know what your screenshot is supposed to be showing me. I never said to put anything anywhere near a Resources directory or in your "build" area. And your .desktop file is in somewhere like ~/.local/share/applications/, right?

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                                          Joe von HabsburgJ Offline
                                          Joe von Habsburg
                                          wrote on last edited by Joe von Habsburg
                                          #24

                                          I add to home

                                          Screenshot from 2026-04-20 11-02-06.png

                                          Build directory

                                          Screenshot from 2026-04-20 11-07-27.png

                                          [Desktop Entry]
                                          Version=1.0
                                          Type=Application
                                          Name=App
                                          Icon=/home/x/icon.png
                                          Exec=myapp
                                          Comment=My Application
                                          Categories=Application
                                          Terminal=false
                                          

                                          Icon is :
                                          icon.png

                                          I saw that
                                          fab9ae44-410d-4834-a9be-1e2dd7f7ee05-image.png

                                          @JonB said in Icon for linux application:

                                          desktop file is in somewhere like ~/.local/share/applications/, right?

                                          should i create .destop file in there ?

                                          JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
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